College of the Atlantic offers a unique higher-ed experience, valuing experiential learning – ...College of the Atlantic offers a unique higher-ed experience, valuing experiential learning – often venturing into nearby Acadia National Park – and weaving sustainability into many areas of the curriculum.

Combining ratings from the Sierra Club’s 2016 Cool Schools rankings and Princeton Review’s 2016 Guide to Green Schools report, the below list tells a little more about how five schools in particular are showing their green spirit.

1. COLLEGE OF THE ATLANTIC

College of the Atlantic, in Bar Harbor, Maine, is at the top of both studies’ lists, and is host to an impressive list of sustainable initiatives. It became the first carbon-neutral college in 2007, meaning that the school first reduced and then offset its remaining carbon emissions, according to the COA website. Additionally, students have recently conducted energy audits on campus buildings and issued recommendations for increasing efficiency, according to the Princeton Review.

“COA believes that our campus is a laboratory where students can gain skills that they wouldn’t be able to learn in the classroom alone,” COA said in the report…

Read more…